IBM Launches New PowerLinux Server

On Tuesday IBM introduced the PowerLinux 7R4, a new high-end server built on the same Power Systems platform running IBM's Watson cognitive computing solution. It runs on industry standard Linux from Red Hat and SUSE, and is backed by up to 32 POWER7+ processor cores stretched out across up to 4 sockets. It takes advantage of the same virtualization, middleware, and applications that are available on all Power Systems running Linux today, the company said.

"More clients are choosing IBM’s Power Systems designed to handle mission critical and complex cloud and big data workloads in an open Linux environment," said Doug Balog, General Manager for IBM Power Systems. "Responding to this need, we are aggressively investing in our open ecosystem -- including new products, applications and collaborations -- that support today's emerging Linux workloads."

Offered in a 5U package, the new server features up to 1 TB of 1066 MHz DDR3 memory, six SFF SAS drive bays for SSDs for HDDs, a slimline media bay for SATA DVD-RAM, six PCIe 8x Gen2 slots, two SAS DASD/SSD controllers, dual 10 Gb Ethernet ports plus a choice of two additional 10 Gb or two additional 1 Gb ports. There are also three USB, two HMC, two SPCN and one serial port.

The server also provides 256 KB of Level 2 (L2) cache per core, and 10 MB of Level 3 (L3) cache per core (eDRAM). IBM offers a list of expansion features such as a comprehensive set of PCI adapters, and several I/O expansions including up to 4 PCIe 12x I/O drawers and so on.

In addition to the new server, IBM said it is expanding the portfolio of software for Power Systems with the availability of IBM Cognos Business Intelligence and EnterpriseDB’s Postgres Plus Advanced Server database software, each optimized for Linux on Power, aka Linux running on IBM's POWER-based systems. IBM said EnterpriseDB’s solution provides clients access to a low cost database that supports ongoing and new business applications.

"Switching databases has traditionally been costly and risky due to limited application compatibility and lack of comprehensive migration tools and resources. EnterpriseDB's Postgres Plus Advanced Server and IBM Power Systems solve this problem by providing extensive Oracle compatibility functionality, migration tools and expertise that can deliver significant cost savings while allowing many Oracle based applications to run virtually unchanged,” said Ed Boyajian, President and CEO, EnterpriseDB.

IBM Cognos Business Intelligence now joins IBM WebSphere, and provides an analytics engine that "exploits the performance of Power for data-driven insight". The company said WebSphere also provides a portfolio of software to support emerging Java-based applications for web clients and mobile devices. Additional Linux on Power optimized software includes InfoSphere BigInsights and InfoSphere Streams.